Improvement in the manufacture op steel direct from the ore



N.PETERS. PHOTO-LITHOGRAFHER. WASHINGTON. D. C.

ROBERT S. STENTON, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YOBK.

Lette/rs Patent No. 88,524, dated Mez/rch 30, 1869; a-ntecletetl March25, 1869.

IMPROVEMENT IN THE 'MANUFACTURE OF STEEL DIRECT FROM THE ORE.

To all whom fit may concern.-

Be it known that I, ROBERT S. STENTON, of the city of Brooklyn,county ofKings, State of New York, have invented an Improved Method ofManufacturing Steel- Sponge, andv Steel direct therefrom.

'lhe usual processes by which cast-steel is made are all more or lesscircuitous.

By one, the most reliable, the -ore is iirst roasted, then smelted in ablast-furnace, to make it into pigiron, where it is carbonized, thenrefined. The refined metal is made into malleable iron, in a`reverberatory furnace, where it is deearbonized. The b'ars so made arethen again carbonized, either in a converting-furnace, or in thecruicible, in which they are melted, and from which is poured thecast-steel ingot.

Gast-steel, the product of malleable iron, 'made in a sinking-fire,avoids the smelting process.

Gast-steel, made by the Bessemer and Martin processes, avoids theintermediate stage of malleable iron; it is made direct from the pig.

' I propose, by my invention, so to -treat large masses of suitableiron-ore, that when placed in a properly-con str'ucted furnace, andsubjected to a due degree of heat, it will melt, and the product thereofbe cast-steel, of various degrees of-hardness, down to softest decarbonized cast-steel, at the will of the manufacturer.

The nature of my invention consists in charging a kiln, or oven, or inpacking a heap, or hill with ore, fuel,

-and carbon, as hereafter described, in order to accomplish certainessential results iu a new and superior manner, viz, to deoxidize, tocleanse, and to carbonize metallic ores, more particularly black oxides,and other suitable descriptions of iron-ore, producing, as a result, ametallic sponge, that, where iron-ore has been used, will have become asponge of steel, iig. 3, owing to the carbonizing-process that has beencarried on with the deoxidizing and the cleansing-px'ocess.`

Ore prepared in this manner is no longer iron-ore, but becomes reallymetallic steel, and requires only to be melted in a properly-coustructedfurnace, to be run int-o ingotsof any size, for anypurpose, from aneedle to a railway-bar, or from a railway-bar to a cannon ot' thelargest dimensions, and 'that at a cost4 but little, if anything inadvance of the present cost of goodV charcoal pig-iron Iron-ore has beendeoxidized, and a sponge of iron has been made in various ways--bymixing iron-ore and fuel in heaps, on the'ground. or in kilns, andfiring the same, or by passing the waste gases from a blastfurnace head,through masses of iron-ore placed in a proper receptacle.`

Sponge, of steel, has been made by the cementation of orc in anair-tight oren, or pot, in the same way that blistered steel is madefrom malleable iron.

lMy invent-ion is an improvement on both of these old processes. l By mynew method, I produce sponge of steel in an open kiln, or oven, or evenin a heap, or mound. This latter, however, being less under control, theresults will not be uniform, and it will not be advisable to haverecourse toit.

To enable others skilled' in the art to make and use my invention, lwill proceed to describe the same.

Figure lis a sectional elevation, showing a .small portion 'of fuel,carbon-ore, carbon-fuel, Sac., in alternate layers.

Figure 2 is the same, with the fuel between every two l( yers of ore andcarbon.

Figure 3 is a view of a sample of steel-sponge, partially polished onone side, to show its metallic structure and nature.

Like letters of reference-indicate corresponding parts.

The object of my invention is to make sponge, of steel, in large masses,at the least possible expense.

This'can be done in almost any kiln in which charcoal can be made. v

I do not, therefore, at this time, claim any particular construction offurnace, kiln, or oven, but a method of packing, or charging, or ofmanipulating ore iu any such furnace, kiln, or oven in whichtherequisite heat can be obtained.

First, this consists in placing layers, or alternate layers of fuel,wood or peat, in preference to coal, as shown at A in figs. l and 2;carbon, (fine charcoah) as at B, gs. l and 2 ore, by preference brokensmall and separated, as at O, figs. 1 and 2; carbon, as at D, figs. land 2; and then again fuel, A, as in figs. 1 and 2; or, at the optionofthe operator, the fuel, A, may be placed, as in fig. 2, between everysec-ond layer of carbon and ore, or even between every third or othernumber of layers,'the object being to obtain a bright but not amelting-heat, gradually rising up through the mass. Enough, and no more,of wood, or otherl fuel, must be used 'than is needed to accomplish thispurpose.

rlhe topmost layer should be one of fuel, and the whole must beenclosed, or covered in with masonry, or earth, or sand, the supply ofair being regulated in such a way that combustion shall be even andregular.

At intervals of twelve inches, or thereabout, and all round the sides,the beds of ore should have spaces, E, of .about one inch in diameter,(see gs. 1 and 2,) into which a handful of smallv charcoal must beinser-ted, for as cementation goeson, the ore will slightly fuse, andweld into a cake.

'lhe ovcn, or kiln should be so arranged that the gases of combustionand carbonization will pass away l downward, which, without these vents,it would be almost impossible for them to do. though preferable, is notan essential.

I use either a natural draught, or apply a blast to stimulatecombustion, dependent on the construction of the'kilu, or furnace. Thegases generated by a suitable arrangement of dues and manipulation ofthe This, however,

furnace, can be saved, and utilized as heat-producers, when combinedwith a further supply of air, heated or cold, or air and steam, as foundexpedient.

The layers of fuel should be in sufficient quantity to heat the ore to awhite, but not to a melting-heat;

the ore placed in layers two inches thick, the carbon half an inch to.one inch above, and before each layer of ore, or -be'mixed equallythrough it, in proportions dependent on the description and chemicalcomponents thereof.

One'hundred tous of steel-sponge or more can be made at one time.

Second, having explained the method of making steel-sponge, by theprocess of deoxidizing and carbonizing iron-ore, by a'peouliararrangement of the component materials used, I will now proceed todescribe another method of accomplishing the same object byA a differentand more rapid, but equivalent process.

As already stated, ores of iron have been deoxidized and made into aysponge of iron, by being` packed into a proper receptacle, and forcingthe waste heat or gases from the blast-.furnace'head to pass through thesame, until the oxygen, and as much ofthe other impurities of the orehad been expelled, as could be drivenoff without subjecting it to afusing-heat.

Iron-ore, at a white heat, will rapidly absorb carbon when it is placedin juxtaposition with it. When, therefore, the body of ore is at thispoint,-(I do not,- ofcourse, confine myself to using heat obtained byeconoinizing the waste of the blastfurnace,) I throw into the heatedmass a stream or streams of carbonaceons gas obtained from properauxiliary apparatus.

Where-ver the carbon' can attack the heated ore, it will do so, and asponge of steel wil be the result.

Furnaces can be so arranged as to be fed with ore at the mouth,dischargingl the sponge at the foot, the ore being heated, deoxidized,and carbonized in the one part, but cooling sufliciently below to allowof being raked out at proper intervals; or fuel, and then orc and carbonmay be alternately charged at the mouth, and after the ore issufficiently deoxidized and carbonized, itcan be discharged at the foot,andthus Ithe operation b made continuous.

My claim being for a novel method of treating metalmethod, or methods bywhich the carbonaceous gases required for the second of the methodsdescribed are generated, and the apparatus and material used, areproperly the subjects of separate patents, and therefore not here setforth.

In melting the sponge, made as herein described, I mix with the samesuch a proportion of pig-iron as may be requisite to supply an increasedpercentage of carbon, when such is required, using also as a flux anddetergent, the oxide of manganese.

The carbon, or line charcoal, instead of being put above and below theore, may be mixed with it, and then placed in juxtaposition with thefuel, as hereinbefore stated.

By care in the degree of carbonization, and a proper management of thefurnace, a natural, a puddled, a semi-steel, or evena malleable-ironloop may be pro-- duced from this sponge, either alone', or incombination with pig-iron, in a reverberatoryfurnace.

vWhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

The process, or method, herein described and illustrated, ofmakingsteel, by heating the iron-ore with .fuel and charcoal,arranged inalternate layers, thus producing steel-sponge, and by reducing saidsponge,

substantially4 inthe manner hereinbefore set forth.

R. S. STENTON.

lVitnesses:

A. J AEGEE, H. JAEGER.

